The castle had grown quieter since the Deathday.
Not silent—Hogwarts never truly slept—but uneasy.
Ghosts that once drifted freely now avoided my path.
They whispered along the walls, flickering out of sight whenever I entered a corridor.
I couldn't blame them.
If I were incorporeal and watched someone unmake one of my kind, I'd be cautious too.
Even as we entered November the first snows of the year had not yet fallen.
Although there was one spectre who had not avoided me... instead she had complelty uprooted herself.
Helena Ravenclaw, the ghost of Revenclaw tower had become an almost constant presence within the Draconis Dormitory, Cho of course was pleased to see her old house ghost switching teams just like she herself had previously done.
And it wasn't like the others minded much at all either, she was a very brillant young woman, if not for her early demise at the hands of the nefarious Baron, she could have gone on to be a force of reckoning just like her mother and grandmother.
Seeing the opportunity to question one who had ample knowledge of one of my greatest treasures inner workings, i approached her with the source of her own demise in hand.
"You wan to speak about the diadem," she said, floating just an inch above the ground in an attempt to appear, 'alive' as her grandmother did. "The fact you even located where i hid it is impressive enough."
Helena's translucent fingers brushed the air where the crown was at in my hands, unable to grasp it but still stroking it as if she could.
"Mother's diadem was meant to enlighten its bearer—to expand thought, sharpen perception."
"But its gift is selfish, confined to one head at a time. I was thinking about modifying it... making the effect capable of reaching more minds."
For the next few moment i went on a bit of a rant about how i chose to classify spells, taking stock from anime's of my previous life but the mappings still applied.
there were spells that were single target, while others aimed at a group, or even greater an entire area.
Using the premise of Area of Effect, i began to explain my grand desire to have the Diadem's affect apply itself to all under its 'gaze' when within the Draconis house library.
Giving my houses students the greatest chance to learn properly even if the school itself was incapable of locating proper teaching staff itself.
Draconis arched a brow. "My heir speaks as though knowledge were a contagion."
"Isn't it?" I said lightly. "The good kind."
Helena's lips curved faintly. "And how would you achieve such a thing?"
I drew my wand—the Thunderbird core glimmering with faint inner light. "By altering the diadem's magical lattice. It's tuned to amplify one consciousness. If I can rewrite the focus sigils so it resonates outward, feeding from ambient thought instead of hoarding it."
"That would make it dangerous," Helena warned. "Too many minds connected at once—chaos."
Her worries were well founded but even after learning what the privileges and rights of my house entailed i never intended the occupency to rise beyond what i could count on both hands.
Capturing the named characters if you will, but any more... was there even a point?
With it agreed i would not seek to claim beyond my means, Helena relented and alongside Lady Draconis we got to work, digging through the theory itself before bothering to attempt modification to the diadem itself.
At the pace we achieved in a single day, the new AOE passive for knowledge would be ready around the time of our third years start.
~
Morning came with far less grace.
The first light of November glared off the greenhouses like a personal insult, as it burned my eyes.
Herbology.
My least favorite class.
It wasn't that I disliked plants.
I simply preferred when they stayed in the ground and didn't try to bite.
But Professor Sprout had declared this week "practical engagement" and thrust us all into the damp chaos of Greenhouse Three.
The smell hit first—something between wet socks and dragon breath after having eaten a troll.
"Alright, second years!" Sprout called cheerily, already elbow-deep in a tub of what looked like murderous seaweed. "Today we'll be continuing with Mandrakes and beginning our study of several fascinating specimens—Spiky Bush, Fluxweed, Leaping Toadstools, Puffapods, and the Abyssinian Shrivelfig!"
Seamus whispered to Dean, "Why does every plant sound like it escaped Azkaban?"
I sighed. "Because it probably did."
Daphne shot me a grin from across the table, protective gloves halfway on.
"Don't look so grim, Cassius. It's only a bit of dirt."
"Dirt," I said, "is fine. The homicidal shrubbery is what concerns me."
Sprout clapped her hands. "Pair up! We'll start with Mandrakes."
Daphne and I shared a glance—mutual suffering communicated wordlessly—and took our spots beside a pot containing a suspiciously wriggling seedling.
"Ear muffs on!" Sprout chirped.
The class followed suit.
This wasnt our first time dealing with Mandrakes, we had already been required to report them three times since the term began.
Each time was worse than the last, however thankfully a few 'genius's' in our class were spared from the horrifying cries of the root babies, with a cast of [Silencio].
Sprout tugged the Mandrake free, and the greenhouse erupted in a nightmarish wail.
Even with the ear protection and silencing spell the cries themselves caused reverberation in the air enough to cause my eyes to shake.
"Lovely lungs on that one!" Sprout said proudly, shoving the screeching root into a fresh pot.
When she gestured for us to try, I grimaced and reached down, gripping the stem.
The Mandrake fought back—small, muddy fists swinging wildly.
"Persistent little monster," I muttered.
Daphne smirked.
"It reminds me of you."
Her words didnt get heard but i had managed over these last few weeks to learn the basics of lip reading especially when practicing Silencio in preparation for the deadly mandrakes.
"Flattering."
I yanked it out.
The scream hit like a hammer.
The Mandrakes had already entered puberty or so Professor Sprout claimed, but with their growing maturity they gained mass, and worse still power.
When fully grown their cries alone could kill someone.
As 1/2 mature as they are now, they would probably only cause us students to faint or fall into a coma for a few days, maybe with bleeding coming from our burst eardrums.
Once the Mandrakes were subdued, we moved to Spiky Bush—an aptly named horror whose thorns twitched whenever anyone got close.
Hermione's attempt at pruning resulted in a minor explosion of seeds that embedded themselves in Seamus's robe.
He yelped. "It's in my trousers!"
"I told you," I said, "the plants here have ambition."
The only tolerable part of the class came with spellwork.
Sprout demonstrated Diffindo, the severing charm, slicing through a stubborn vine with a clean hiss.
"Useful for trimming" she stated.
Though i caught her gazing at me, with a smirk.
Yeah yeah, my old man took this spell to an extreme with his creation of Sectum Semprum.
~
We practiced until our wrists ached, and then came Incendio—a simple flame-conjuring spell to burn away cobwebs and, as Sprout cheerfully informed us, to repel slugs.
I cast it with relish, watching as at first a simple orange flame emerged but with increased proficiency that flame became blue, perhaps with mastery it would become white.
Herbology class was more like a class on gardening, but even still it did give its little surprises.
Most magical plants are a quite literal gold mine.
You can grow most of them within a single year, and the profits from those sales could fill a simple vault at gringotts the the ceiling with Galleons.
Hogwarts was a school of the rich.
The gardener, had tens of thousands of self replicating plants, providing potion materials for classes but also sale to the magical world.
Then there is the game keeper, his shabby hut alone having thens of thousands worth of scavenged animal loots contained within.
Cassius could only shake his head in wonder, if not for his previous lifes memories perhaps he would be envious of their good fortune and making attempts like future slughorn to 'harvest' some Tentacular leaves for sale in Knockturn alley during the break.